Indigenous Ability

Those of us who train weapons, whether that weapon be firearm, tactical folder, escrima stick, pepper-spray, or Viking battle-axe likely spend most of our time en garde, at port arms, or “Weapon-Ready.” In other words, our tool of choice is un-holstered, un-sheathed, un-pocketed, un-pursed, un-quivered and ready to go. Our training is often drill-based or duel patterned, meaning all of the preliminaries have been assumed. Fake-words have been had, weapons are in hand, now we click the sticks 1-8, adjust the paper-target up or down range, slash-one/thrust-four for reps, or apply the centurion’s gladius to the post ad naseum. But… …in the New World, [Frontier America] a premium was placed not only prowess with a weapon at-the-ready but also speed of weapon acquisition and how quickly that weapon could be engaged tactically. In other words, we are not merely talking fast-draw, we are talking fast-draw and do the job. Let us not assume the fast draw is mere stuff ...

We’ve all heard the competitive wisdom that if one is going to fight at altitude, one needs to train at altitude.  Is this advice correct? We’ll come back to that in a moment, but first, let’s wade though a little science, touch on some myth-busting, do a little truth-telling and then finally settle on a hack that does, indeed, seem to do the job we set out to do by altitude training. First, just why are we a bit out of breath as we increase elevation?  As we increase elevation the air thins, and our lungs have to work harder to increase the amount of oxygen absorbed thru the surface layer of the lungs.  This “thinning” has more to do with air-pressure then mere decreased oxygen availability at higher altitude.  Just as with working underwater, just below the surface we feel very little pressure, but the deeper we descend the greater the pressure until the organism or diving device reaches crush-depth. The deeper we go, the greater th...

In the early days of warfare tightly knitted formation was a martial ideal. From the strictly formed phalanxes of Sparta’s hoplites, to the triplex acies (triple battle order) of the Roman Army, to the rank and file formations of Continental Armies typical of the Napoleonic Wars—tight, coordinated movement en masse was often the semblance of “cover” and defense. When these war-hardened battle-tactics made their way to the early American Continent they encountered a guerrilla style of war in the tactics used by the indigenous peoples. A strategy of stealth, ambush, concealment, quick and seemingly trackless retreat. These tactics were disparagingly called “ the skulking way of war ” or more simply “ skulking. ” The term was not meant as a compliment. It was viewed as a cowardly way to engage. But…it was mighty effective. Here, we have a limited number of warriors without the “blessings of formal training” and in many cases using stone-age weaponry more than holding its o...